On Ash Wednesday, 2012, Sara Miles left church and took to the streets, carrying ashes to bus stops, bakeries, beauty shops, fast-food joints, street corners and sidewalks, marking the foreheads of strangers in the ancient ritual, and offering blessing to waitresses and drunks, believers and doubters alike. CITY OF GOD narrates the events of this single day in vivid detail, exploring the profound spiritual implications of touching the forehead of a stranger, and illuminating the search for God and meaning that takes place every day, in every kind of neighborhood. Beginning with a trip to the emergency room of a public hospital, and ending the same night with an unexpected message left by a little girl, she describes the events and encounters with humor and insight. In each chapter she also casts forward and backward over the last two decades, examining her own experiences, reflecting on theology, and weaving together the moving stories of strangers and neighbors who were looking for community and discovered God. CITY OF GOD is a beautifully-written personal narrative, rich in complex, real-life characters, and full of the "wild, funny, joyful, raucous, reverent" stories of struggle and faith that have made Sara Miles one of the most compelling Christian writers of our time.